40 Acres Sports

Wichita Falls is sad. Colt McCoy being in town is a big story for the local news. Good kid.

Defensive tackle [tag]Derek Johnson[/tag] from Hoxie, Arkansas committed to the Longhorns Wednesday according to Orangebloods.com. Johnson, originally from El Paso, is reportedly one of the top five players in Arkansas for the class of 2009.

The 6-foot-3, 290 pound Johnson is the second defensive tackle in this class, joining Calvin Howell out of San Antonio who committed in mid-May. Hopefully 5-star stud Jamarkus McFarland will come and join an incredible defensive line group.

The recruitment of three defensive tackles in this one class certainly lends creedence to the rumors that defensive tackles [tag]Tyrell Higgins[/tag] and [tag]Brian Ellis[/tag] may not be back on the team in the fall. If they’re gone then the big need at the position quickly became a huge one.

Check out the YouTube video of Johnson courtesy of Orangebloods message boards below (warning: the audio is obnoxious and very NSFW):

Welcome to the Forty Acres Derek.

Ricky Williams video from MB-TF.com. I’m rooting so hard for him, hope he keeps it together for a few seasons.

Cedar Hill offensive tackle [tag]Thomas Ashcraft[/tag] is one of the top prospects in the state and top offensive lineman in the country. The 6-foot-5 280 pound high school junior was one of the Longhorns earliest 2009 commits back in February but is one of the most important in this class. He’s one of four excellent line commits that should be building blocks that skill players like [tag]Garrett Gilbert[/tag] and [tag]Chris Whaley[/tag] will flourish behind.

Not only does the young man have potential to be a fixture on the offensive line for the Horns but he’s also a player Mack Brown and Co. scooped up early even after many believed he was an Oklahoma lean. It’s always nice to steal a kid of this caliber from the bad guys.

Check out Ashcraft’s sophomore highlight reel below:

If anyone has junior highlight video of Ashcraft (or any other commits) please let us know.

Again, video of [tag]Cedric Benson[/tag] looking about as cooperative as you can look when being arrested:

I know I’m a UT homer but every single bit of new news and information I get supports Benson more and more. I have a feeling this gets thrown out at his hearing on May 19th.

It’s been way too long since we’ve posted a Rose Bowl video, so check out one of the best I’ve seen below:

Makes me want to go watch my Rose Bowl DVD for the tenth time. This video tries to highlight the game itself and not just the Horns, but it still turns out to be much more of a Longhorn video. Not that that’s a bad thing. I could watch the last three minutes of this thing over and over again. The only thing it is missing is the audio from Craig Way’s call of the 4th and 5 play to win it.

Thanks go to jbHorn over on Orangebloods for the link.

ESPN draft expert Todd McShay loves [tag]Limas Sweed[/tag]. He has the Texas receiver going 24th in Saturday’s draft to the Titans, but he’s even higher on him than most NFL teams. McShay believes that “ten years from now, we’re going to say Limas Sweed was the most productive and most talented wide receiver in the 2008 NFL Draft class.” Pretty bold statement and I sure hope he’s right, especially if Sweed is on the receiving end of Vince Young‘s passes in Tennessee for the next ten years.

Watch his scouting report below, the quote is at the very end:

This commercial looks like it’s at least a few months old, but I saw it this weekend for the first time during the Spurs/Suns playoff game. It’s an ad for NBAStore.com and features [tag]Kevin Durant[/tag] slowly walking down the stadium tunnel taking off one jersey after another.

Watch the commercial below:

Kevin starts wearing a Boys & Girls Club jersey, takes it off to reveal the jersey of the mighty Drew-Freeman Middle School Falcons, then his high school Montrose Christian, then the red and gold McDonald’s All-American uni, after that is his Nike Texas Longhorn #35, and finally as he nears the end of the tunnel he reveals his Seattle SuperSonics jersey. I guess next year they’ll have to update it again to add another one. Very cool commercial and always great to see Kevin wearing the burnt orange on national television.

Former Horn [tag]Kevin Durant[/tag] was nails for the Sonics last night in what was likely the team’s last game in Seattle. In a two overtime win over the Denver Nuggets, Durant had 37 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists but played an even bigger role than his career best stat line shows. With 22 seconds left in regulation he hit a huge 3-pointer to tie the game and send it to overtime. Then, with just five seconds left in the first overtime period he drained a 30-foot bomb to again tie up the game. It was a superstar shot.

Watch the second of his big shots below:

Great game and great clutch job by Kevin. His ability and willingness to take and hit shots like that are what separates him from other players. The Sonics are terrible and he started off trying to carry the team by taking tons of threes (yet was still Rookie of the Year frontrunner even then), but once he found his groove midseason he’s been playing at a much higher level. After several months hovering around 40% shooting, Durant made 53% of his shots in February.

With five games left in the season the Sonics are likely going to end up with one of the league’s three worst records and at worst a top five pick in the 2008 draft. If the Sonics can land another big time player (hopefully Memphis point guard Derrick Rose) with that pick they’ll have an incredibly young and gifted core to build on just up the road in Oklahoma City next year.

This was too entertaining not to post:

At first I was sympathetic to Aggie fans, it would be tough to lose a game that way. Then they started acting like Aggies and threatening a lawsuit over the non-call. Seriously. It didn’t take long to remember there is never a good reason to take pity on them. Now I laugh and laugh and laugh at their despair. (via)